Finland: Deaths Caused by Drugs Have Tripled Since 2000

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 27: Micheal Rouwhorst, 28, prepares a shot of heroin and cocaine n
Salwan Georges/Washington Post via Getty
Chris Tomlinson

The number of deaths caused by the use of drugs in Finland has tripled since 2000 with drug deaths peaking in 2020 when 228 people died after using drugs.

Last year, Finland reported a total of 206 drug-related deaths, with 60 of the deaths involving people under the age of 25. On average, people in Finland who have died of complications relating to drugs are just 33 years old.

While the number of deaths recorded las year was a decrease from the peak of 2020, the number of deaths overall has surged since the start of the 2000s, broadcaster Yle reports.

“The reduction in deaths is, of course, a great thing. Let’s hope that this does not remain a one-year decline,” Sanna Kailanto, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, told the broadcaster.

Part of the problem is the lack of available treatment, as just 20 per cent of problem opioid users are in treatment, compared to the European average of 40 per cent. “In treatment, mortality drops to less than a third of what it is outside treatment,” Kailanto said.

Kailanto also claimed that many deaths may be prevented if the people who used drugs did not think the police may arrive if they call an ambulance.

“There may be a fear that when ordering emergency care from the emergency response centre, the police will also arrive when there may be doses of drug use or stolen goods at the site. Nowhere in the law does it say that in such situations the police should be called to the scene,” Kailanto said.

Finland’s drug deaths among young people under the age of 25 are the highest in Europe in proportion to its population according to a report from earlier this year in June from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Finnish political parties are at odds on how to deal with the issue, with the populist Finns party calling for the deportation of foreigners convicted of drug dealing, while the Greens have called for removing penalties for drug users to allow them to have an easier time seeking treatment.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

 

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